If Cricket Had Ballon d'Or: Top 5 men's contenders of 2026 ft. Sanju Samson

Harry Kane on Tuesday, October 27, won the 2026 Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Englishman to win the prestigious award since Michael Owen in 2001. The Bayern Munich and England captain was crowned at the London Palladium, finishing ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal after a season of 73 goals in 65 games for club and country.

Kane did not win the Champions League or the World Cup. Bayern Munich lost their semi-final to Paris Saint-Germain, and England lost to Argentina before finishing third. But the vote rewarded output over team silverware.

Cricket has no such award, so here is a hypothetical Ballon d'Or for men's international cricket, judged on the 2025-26 season with the Ashes and the T20 World Cup weighted heaviest.

1. Sanju Samson (India)

The 2026 T20 World Cup was the season's biggest white-ball stage. Sanju Samson finished the tournament with 321 runs in five innings at 80.25, a strike rate of 199.37 and 24 sixes, and was named Player of the Tournament as India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in the final in Ahmedabad.

After starting the competition outside the playing XI, the 31-year-old Samson took Player of the Match honours against the West Indies (97* off 50) and England (89 off 42) before again stroking a 46-ball 89 in the summit clash, the highest individual score in a men's T20 World Cup final. His tally surpassed Virat Kohli's Indian record for a T20 World Cup edition.

2. Travis Head (Australia)

Travis Head was the standout batter of Ashes 2025-26, which Australia won 4-1. The 32-year-old opener made 629 runs in 10 innings at 62.90 and a strike rate of 87.36, with three centuries to boot.

The hundreds came at Perth (123 off 83), Adelaide (170 off 219) and Sydney (163 off 166), and he was adjudged Player of the Match in the first and fifth Tests. Among batters with 600 or more runs in a single Ashes series, he is the only one to do it at a strike rate above 75.

3. Jasprit Bumrah (India)

Jasprit Bumrah's case rests on one afternoon in Ahmedabad. His 4/15 in the final are the best figures in a T20 World Cup final and won him Player of the Match, on a pitch that offered little to the bowlers.

One of four India players in the ICC's Team of the Tournament, Bumrah finished at the top of the wickets charts with 14 victims at a stunning economy of 6.21. In a format built for and a tournament dominated by batters, the spell marks the season's clearest case of a bowler deciding a trophy.

4. Mitchell Starc (Australia)

Mitchell Starc was the Ashes 2025-26 Player of the Series and finished as the leading wicket-taker with 31 scalps at an impressive strike rate of 29.34.

The series set a record for the highest run-rate in Test history, 4.07 for a series of four matches or more, which makes the wickets worth more. His case is volume rather than one decisive spell: no final, just the most wickets in the season's hardest contest.

5. Joe Root (England)

Joe Root's Ashes 2025-26 ended in a losing dressing room, but his was the most substantial series by an England batter: 400 runs at 44.44 with two centuries and a best of 160.

Both hundreds came in defeats, in Brisbane and Sydney, which limits his case in a list weighted towards match-winning output. He is still third in the latest ICC men's Test batting rankings, with a rating of 816.

Looking for fast live cricket scores? Download CricRocket and get fast score updates, top-notch commentary in-depth match stats & much more! 🚀☄️